The charges are mounting against Jesse John Crow, the Prunedale man accused of killing his wife and disposing of her still-missing body, and prosecutors now have a chance to pursue the death penalty.
The Monterey County District Attorney's Office on Wednesday filed a special circumstance to the existing murder charge against Crow, alleging that the crime was committed intentionally and carried out for financial gain.
Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Hulsey said the special circumstance makes Crow eligible, if convicted, for either execution or life in prison without the possibility of parole. The office has not yet decided which option it will pursue. Hulsey declined to go into detail on why prosecutors added the special circumstance, citing the ongoing investigation.
Crow, 33, was arrested Feb. 16 on suspicion of murdering Ryann Bunnell Crow, 23, who was last seen alive Jan. 30. Authorities said they have not found her body.
Crow has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is expected to return to court May 14.
The defendant also received a new lawyer at Wednesday's hearing — James Egar, the head of the county Office of the Public Defender. Egar said he plans to review the case to determine whether his office will continue to represent Crow. He requested more time from Judge Russell Scott to review the case's discovery material, which includes police reports.
Earlier this month, Crow's high-profile Salinas lawyer, Thomas Worthington, withdrew from the case, citing a conflict. Worthington has declined to explain the conflict. That same day, the county District Attorney's Office filed new charges alleging that Crow tried to ask two witnesses between March 17 and March 24 to lie on his behalf.
Egar said it is not unusual for him to take on cases, although it's been two years since he represented Macheel Roper of Seaside, accused of fatally stabbing her abusive husband. At Roper's March 2008 preliminary hearing — during which a judge decides whether enough evidence exists for the case to proceed to trial — Egar successfully argued that she acted in self defense. The murder charge was dismissed.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Terry Spitz said in cases that may involve capital punishment, the decision on whether to pursue the death penalty is made after a review committee discusses the case. District Attorney Dean Flippo would ultimately decide whether to pursue capital punishment.
Since 1979, Spitz said, the office has pursued nearly a dozen death penalty cases, five of which sent people to death row. Spitz said a sixth death penalty conviction in 1979 was later overturned on appeal.
The District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty in an ongoing case involving Jacobo Ruelas Jr., a Salinas man accused of fatally stabbing Kristopher Olinger in 1997 in Pacific Grove. The last capital punishment conviction in the county was for Salinas Valley State Prison inmate Kenneth Bivert, a four-time convicted killer sentenced to death in 2001 for the fatal stabbing of fellow prisoner Leonard Swartz.
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